New Delhi : Mentos has been using the ‘evolution’ formula for brand positioning eversince the brand was launched in India. “Batti Jalao”, the latest campaign by Mentos, is based on the insight that people have a natural fascination for puzzles & mysteries.

The campaign uses a riddle with a twist and urges the audience to use their brain laterally. To make the campaign substantial and credible, there is a cash prize of Rs. 25 lakhs on solving the riddle. This is a unique marketing campaign by a brand wherein the person doesn’t have to buy or consume the product to participate.

Mentos was first positioned on the fresh thinking platform with ‘Aam Zindagi, Mentos Zindagi’ campaign. Mentos then evolved, literally, with the ‘Evolution’ campaign which portrayed an alternative theory of evolution where a monkey ate a Mentos and evolved into a man. Mentos has been positioned on the smart thinking platform with the tagline “Dimaag ki Batti Jala de”.

“The hope with this campaign is that can engage our consumers in an interesting and never-done-before way. With this communication, we have taken a leap and thrown a challenge to the consumers to solve a bizarre mystery. The entire look and feel for this is witty and humorous,” Nikhil Sharma, Director – Marketing, Perfetti Van Melle India said .

This is the first instance of a confectionery brand coming up with such an unconventional marketing campaign with an aim to initiate conversations amongst consumers. To reach out to its target audience, Mentos will be using various platforms including social media, microsites, mobile, internet, radio and electronic media. The voice-over has been provided by Piyush Pandey, Ogilvy & Mather’s Executive Chairman and Creative Director, South Asia.

Abhijit Avasthi, NCD, Ogilvy India, added, “With a brand as fun and iconic as Mentos, there’s always this huge question: what next? It’s not easy to catch people by surprise and leave them with a laugh time after time, but we’ve done it yet one more time. And with the ‘Riddle’ campaign we’ve gone a step ahead by giving them something that will play on their minds even after they find out the answer.”

Piyush Pandey, Executive Chairman and Creative Director, South Asia Ogilvy & Mather, added, “There comes a time in a brand’s journey where it must do something startling, something radical, even if what it has been doing before has worked really well. The new Mentos ‘Riddle’ campaign does exactly that. It takes a new leap without letting go of the essence of the brand.”

The campaign will be first launched on digital media with a sneak preview for the Mentos Facebook community which is close to 6 lakh followers. Thereafter the campaign will be launched with banner advertising in the internet and mobile space.

After the campaign gains momentum on the digital platform, it will go on air on television across key youth oriented channels.